Palette & Paints: Matte Black Painted Furniture

My mother-in-law, who has an innate design sense, has a few firmly held beliefs when it comes to interiors; one of her dicta is "a coat of matte black paint hides a multitude of sins." Tired, battered furniture suddenly seems hip and edgy with a coat of matte black (gloss finishes, on the other hand, draw attention to any small imperfections, such as chips and nicks). We like Benjamin Moore's Ben Waterborne Interior Paint , which is a low-VOC, 100-percent acrylic latex (ideal for painting furniture) in a flat finish in Universal Black. Above: A black-painted desk at Sleep in the City in Antwerp. Above: A matte black mantel in Ashley Putnam's Houston living room, via Lonny Magazine . Above: A sideboard from the Contemporary Living Handbook 2012-2013 (Beta-Plus Publishing), via Belgian Pearls . Above: A chalkboard black-painted table via Concept2012 . Above: A wall of frames, a DIY foyer project at Classicly Amber .